IMPORTANT - MP New Chars outside of Candlekeep - Do the automatically get XP to match party XP?

Sar_Yehudah

sorry for the semi-clickbait important. I am hoping for a quick response. I'm about to take a walk and I'm hoping someone who knows can tell me.

Bloodstone

It's not a "matching" thing as much as it's a level up to a similar xp level. Probably not exactly point for point, but in the ball park

Sar_Yehudah

so if i create a new character with my party at level 5 the new char will be 4-5?

Bloodstone

I do not believe it's going to apply to a char that you "create". I took you to mean NPC's that were joinable to your party

Sar_Yehudah

I see. so I pretty much would have to do it from the beginning?

Bloodstone

You can add a custom character at anytime. You can use the MP System to import/export. Google how to do it, not sure if it would be considered cheating here and don't wanna rock anybody's boat. There are also Infinity Engine Game Editors you can use to manage the party.

sarevok57

what happens is, if you meet up with a team mate for the first time, the game will see how much XP you have, and for every even 2000 (x2) XP you have, any team mate you find will be boosted up to that amount ( to a max of 32 000 XP )

so for example: if you have 7789 XP and meet up with khalid and jaheira, they will be boosted to 4000 XP each, if you have 8021 XP, then they would be boosted up to 8000 XP each

so if you want team mates to start at higher levels, the XP thresholds you are looking for are:
2000
4000
8000
16000
32000

do note: that the game will round down, so if you have 31999 XP your companion will be boosted to 16000

also note: this can only be done once, so if you meet up with imoen in chapter 1, and if you have less than 2000 XP ( lets say) then she will never get that XP boost, even if you came back to her when your character has 32000+ XP

Sar_Yehudah

This is a broken and unfriendly system. It bars me from getting old party members back.

UnderstandMouseMagic

Sar_Yehudah said:

This is a broken and unfriendly system. It bars me from getting old party members back.

It doesn't bar you from getting old party members back. It reflects that party members who are not traveling/fighting/questing with you, and instead are sitting on their arses in the Friendly Arm Inn, haven't earnt any XP.

Why would they?
Lets face it, if sitting and drinking your weight in beer gave you XP, nobody in any game ever would leave the bar.
"Set up another round barkeep, I fancy getting another pip in long swords".

Sar_Yehudah

I don't care about justifications for it. I care about user friendliness. Also it wouldn't make sense for them to sit at the Inn at all times and do nothing.

UnderstandMouseMagic

Sar_Yehudah said:

I don't care about justifications for it. I care about user friendliness. Also it wouldn't make sense for them to sit at the Inn at all times and do nothing.

Really?
NPC seem to tend to hang around doing sweet FA until you meet them.
And then you tell them to go away.
I'd so prop up the bar, it's not my "destiny" anyway.

Sar_Yehudah

sorry. I get your point. But my 'lore' assumption would be they would be doing odd jobs while not with me.

sarevok57

worse case scenario you can always use the cheat console to boost up those party members to a higher amount to match what you got

Sar_Yehudah

yeah that wouldn't be much of a problem I suppose.

DevardKrown

Sar_Yehudah said:

yeah that wouldn't be much of a problem I suppose.

get yourself EE Keeper , once you installed it its super intuitive to use , after that you just load your savegame and "Fix" the lacking XP to your desires.

Thels

That script only works for NPCs, and does not work at all for Imoen (she automatically joins the party at a moment where the PC is assumed to have less than 2000 XP, making it entirely useless).

Note that it's only 32000 XP, which even for BG1+TotSC standards is little more than a drop in the bucket. It assures that they have at least a couple of levels if you find them anywhere later than the very start of the game, and don't fall over dead when an enemy so much as looks in their direction, but it in no way guarantees that they'll remain close to the PC.

The system is there to prevent a requirement to rush to your favorite NPCs. It's actually recommended to take things more slowly. Without the NPCs in the party at the very start, the PC will gain more experience, and then the NPCs will be more experienced when you recruit them. That said, BG1 has more than enough XP to cap out well before the end of the game.

JuliusBorisov

Activate the console and type (while hovering over the party NPC (including customly created) you want:

C:SetCurrentXP("XX")

where XX is the amount of XP you want to give them. For example, C:SetCurrentXP("32000") - you don't need even the EEKeeper for it, just a console command.

marc5477

Honestly, the game is already so easy that it does not make one lick of difference. So what if you import someone at level 1? Does it really matter? There is tons of EXP in the game. You can easily bring someone on at level 1 half way into the game and it will be fine. They will level fast and hit 5 in no time at which point they should be effective at their role.

As for gameplay decisions, this game is meant to be an RPG 1st, and action 2nd. It is meant to be played in such a way that your decisions impact the game, such as who you travel with. Its not so much about action and combat nor realism. Its no different than designing the game so that you cannot switch classes on a whim nor roll back your skill point and re-allocate whenever you like. You can always do so with console commands and outside programs but it was not intended as part of the game.

Noloir

Up to level 6.